


Too fast to breathe

by FreakingOutGirl



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew POV, Andrew has a heart and it's beating too much for Neil, Andrew saves Neil, Bodyguard Andrew Minyard, Last Game - Freeform, M/M, Protective Andrew Minyard, Ravens vs Foxes, Riko's homicidal tendencies, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, The minutes between the goal and the end of the chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 06:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12053196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakingOutGirl/pseuds/FreakingOutGirl
Summary: "Andrew was running, faster than he ever did, but his body was not made for that kind of speed. He should have ran more! He should have trained more! He should have accompanied Neil in his morning run! He wouldn't be able to stop the monster!"orAndrew's POV of the moments between Kevin scoring the final goal and him saving Neil from Riko's killing blow (with a little bit of continuity after that scene.





	Too fast to breathe

 

 

Andrew didn’t believe in revenge, neither did he believe in regret. But promises and keeping them was something close to his mindset. And he would forever remember Neil’s face every time he spoke with the journalists, once and again defending the Foxes and predicting their winning by the end of the Championship. Helping Neil keeping a promise after he kept so many of them for Andrew was a small thing in the grand scheme of things, still Andrew wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t want to see Riko’s face after his team lost.

The game was brutal and violent, neither of the sides wanting to lose. There were more things at play than just an Exy championship or a shelf waiting for a trophy. And Andrew, more than any other time before, felt in his own blood the desire to fight. For someone used to not wanting anything, it was indeed a strange feeling and he would scoff at it at any other time. But he was too busy keeping the Foxes’ goal from being breached, to actually analyze just what the hell a short number ten did to his mind.

When the sound of the blaring buzzer reached his ears, Andrew was caught by surprise. Immediately he looked up, seeing the timer still going, but the number next to the Foxes’ goals change. When the second buzzer sounded, Andrew let his arms fall for the first time since he entered the Court that night, while his eyes were still glued to the timer above their heads.

 _Those junkies did it…_ was his amused mind’s first thought and then something akin to intuition or just a sixth sense especially connected to a certain auburn haired man made him look down, ignore all the other Foxes’ screams and wild happiness and search for the number 10. When he didn’t find him in their midst, and even before his brain made the correct connections, his body was already moving, moving forward, gaining momentum, while his eyes searched furiously, like they did that fateful night that someone dared to take Neil Josten from him. And when his eyes found him, finally, he felt like his heart just disappeared from his chest.

Neil was kneeling, with no helmet protecting his head, and Riko was above him, an expression of pure hatred and uncountable madness turning his face into the ones that Andrew knew from his many years as a prey of other people’s cruelty. That was the real aspect of a monster, ready to strike down and claim another victim. And the victim, this time, was something Andrew couldn’t stomach to lose.

Andrew was running, faster than he ever did, but his body was not made for that kind of speed. He should have ran more! He should have trained more! He should have accompanied Neil in his morning run!

_He wouldn't be able to stop the monster!_

_Neil! Neil! Neil!_

And the

**_fear,_ **

**_fear,_ **

**_fear_** ,

was seizing his body, making him a prisoner of his mind.

Still, he persevered, his mind screaming at him.

_You’re too slow, slow, slow! You are going to lose him again! This time you won’t be able to…_

And then, before his panic-seized mind could realize what was happening, his arm was extending, his racquet was touching something hard instead of air and a scream was echoing in front of him, not from the floor, but from somewhere above his head.

In a sudden moment of clarity, Andrew realized he was fast enough, and when he put his racquet in front of Neil’s body, it was with a sense of shielding him from anyone else that tried to hurt him on Andrew’s watch.

Andrew could hear Riko screaming, and in that moment, that sound was music to his ears. However, the most important thing right now was still kneeling in front of his body, shock mixed with amazement swimming in his face. Andrew had to be sure Neil was okay, that Riko, somehow, didn’t hurt him, that Andrew didn’t miss something obvious that could signify Neil suddenly crumbling in front of him, blood oozing from under his body.

Andrew could feel the warmness from Neil’s body in front of his legs, but still, he needed some kind of signal that he was alright, not fine, never only fine, but safe, alive, healthy… And when Neil’s head moved up to face him upside down, a small smile appeared in the striker’s face… _Ah, there is it…_ Andrew thought, that was the sign he was waiting for, that everything was going to be alright.

 Instead of saying all that was going through his mind, Andrew rolled his eyes at Neil, but touched his body softly with his racquet, like saying _I’m here, I got you!_

In a moment they were surrounded by the rest of the team, everyone touching Neil, even with Andrew right there like an ominous shadow, his racquet still partially in front of Neil, until Dan grabbed Neil and shook him a little, making him step away from Andrew for a tiny bit, before she noticed Andrew’s expression and let Neil move back again.

They acted like a planet and its satellite, a gravitational pull, neither of them the planet, neither the satellite, a solar system of their own. When the team moved away a bit after Nicky commented they might want some time alone, Neil immediately looked at Andrew.

Andrew could feel the sweat running down his face and hair, the same way Neil’s hair was darker thanks to his perspiration.

“Thank you. You were…” but before Neil could finish, Andrew’s hand moved and his fingers pressed against Neil’s lips.

“Don’t fucking finish that sentence!” Andrew’s voice was low and menacing and Neil’s eyes softened, and a small, warm smile appeared on his lips.

Around them, the court and the stands was now empty, Riko had been taken away even before the rest of the Foxes moved their festivities to the locker room.

“Yes or no?” Neil asked, extending his hand, always respecting Andrew’s boundaries.

Andrew looked at Neil’s stretched fingers, took off his gloves, let his hand fall over Neil’s and interlocked his fingers with Neil’s smaller ones.

“Yes…”

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
